(Ed. Note) One of the most important features on The405Club.com, our “Ask HR” feature gives full access to a Fortune 500 Director of Recruiting for all members of The 405 Club.  We hope this feature opens up the lines of communication, solving some of the job hunting mysteries and questions we all have.  Ask your own questions here.  Enjoy.

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Dear HR,

I never know if emailing that day is too soon, or if I should wait a few days which perhaps puts me in the front of their mind once again? Is one more effective than another? And if I don’t get an email back, should I follow up with a phone call a few days later or are they not writing back because they weren’t interested?

Thank you, Apprehensive Applicant

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Dear Apprehensive Applicant,

I don’t really have a preference as to whether a candidate sends me a thank you letter or not. However, almost all of my HR colleagues expect to receive one from a candidate and believe it reflects poorly on a candidate if they do not send one .Given that, I think you should send one but I would recommend you use the following guidelines:

Send a hand written note, a personal touch is often better and shows you went out of your way.

Do not send an email thank you note on the same day of the interview (it seems insincere) and you couldn’t have really reflected on the conversation that quickly.

Do not be disappointed or read into anything if you do not get a response, according to etiquette standards a thank you note does not require a reply.

It is appropriate to make a follow up call a week or so after the interview, but I would recommend that during your interview, you inquire about next steps/timeframes and use that answer as a guideline as to when you  should make a follow up call.

Lots of luck in your search!

-Kelley Anglin, Director of Talent/Human Resources

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Have a burning question you would like to ask the Human Resources Department? Submit your inquiry here.

(Ed. Note) One of the most important features on The405Club.com, our “Ask HR” feature gives full access to a Fortune 500 Director of Recruiting for all members of The 405 Club.  We hope this feature opens up the lines of communication, solving some of the job hunting mysteries and questions we all have.  Enjoy. 

Dear HR,

Should I include my desired salary in my cover letter?  I’ve already lowered my asking price $20K, but still no bites…

Sincerely,

Cover Letter Lucy

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Dear Cover Letter Lucy,

There seems to be a lot of debate over this subject. Most applicants feel if you say how much you are looking for , you may be ruled out. I would much rather a prospective employer knows how much I am looking for, so that there is an understanding before you go on the interview. Otherwise, you can spend hours of your time interviewing only to find that the salary is significantly below what you are looking for. I say put it out there…

-Kelley Anglin, Director of Talent/Human Resources

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Have a burning question you would like to ask the Human Resources Department? Submit your inquiry here.

Dear HR,

I am an experienced Executive Assistant and Sales Support. Both positions required skills in a lot of areas, therefore my resume for the last 10 ten years is two-pages. Is that a major fault?

Sincerely,

Ten Year Professional

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Dear Ten Year Professional,

I am not sure where the adage came from that a resume must be one page because everyone’s experience level is different and it may not be able to be  “squeezed” into one page. I would recommend that if you need two pages then use two pages, but keep in mind that you do not need to list every job you ever had, I think the last 10- 15 years of experience is sufficient .

-Kelley Anglin, Director of Talent/Human Resources

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Have a burning question you would like to ask the Human Resources Department? The 405 Club gives you full access to HR with the Ask HR series.  To submit a question please use the online form [here].

Dear HR,

I recently had my resume critiqued by a recruiter.  The recruiter liked the content but did not like the format.  The format is exactly what my business school uses for all of its students.  Should I try to create a resume which does not adhere to a “normal” looking resume?

Sincerely, Resume Inquirer

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Dear Resume Inquirer,

Although there are countless books on how to write a resume, how  you format your resume is really a personal choice. Everyone who reads your resume may have a feeling of how it is formatted and you cant please everyone. Most recruiters spend less than 60 seconds reviewing each resume. I would suggest that you focus on making sure the content reflects your skills and abilities, is easy to read, void of typos and grammatically correct.

-Kelley Anglin, Director of Talent/Human Resources

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Have a burning question you would like to ask the Human Resources Department? The 405 Club gives you full access to HR with the AskHR series.  To submit a question please use the online form [here].